49ers Reach Tentative Lease Deal To Stay In S.F. Until At Least '14

S.F. officials said that the 49ers will remain in the city "until at least 2014 under a tentative lease deal hammered out" last week after Mayor Gavin Newsom met with team President & CEO Jed York "to mend fences," according to John Cote of the S.F. CHRONICLE. The deal, "which still needs the approval of the Recreation and Park Commission and the Board of Supervisors, gives the Niners more flexibility to pull up stakes and move to Santa Clara, but also settles a $60 million maintenance claim the team had filed against the city, a precursor to a lawsuit." The 49ers' Candlestick Park lease expires after the '12 season, and renewing the lease "would mean signing on for an additional five years." The new agreement lets the team "renew its Candlestick lease for five years starting after this season, but it allows the team to opt out of the last year, which would be the 2015 season." The team "hopes to move into a proposed stadium in Santa Clara in 2015 and doesn't want to be on the hook to San Francisco for years of rent for a decaying stadium it isn't using." Cote noted the 49ers also would "have the option of one-year lease extensions every year until 2023, when the current lease would have expired." Newsom said that the deal "helps pave the way for the team to consider staying in the city and building a new stadium in a redeveloped Hunters Point Naval Shipyard," a proposal that has "already received voter and city approval" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 12/24).

SAN FRANCISCO TREAT: In San Jose, Lisa Fernandez noted under the tentative agreement, the 49ers "will get rent credit for completing $6.5 million in lapsed maintenance work during the next two years that the city was obligated to fix." The 49ers "will get an additional $4 million to $6 million in either rent reduction or credit, as well." 49ers VP/Communications & Government Relations Lisa Lang noted while it is "not a done deal," she still feels "confident" the team will move to Santa Clara. Lang: "Our target date to be in Santa Clara is 2015" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 12/24).